All public buildings in Qatar, as well as major residential and commercial complexes, will be required to adopt green standards from April.

According to the Ministry of Environment, all schools, mosques, hospitals and government buildings must implement the standards laid out by the Qatar Building Standards of 2010 (QBS) and the Qatar Sustainable Assessment System (QSAS).

Towers with a built up area of more than 10,000m2 and residential complexes with a built-up area of over 20,000m2 will also be expected to follow the rules from next month.

Speaking to the Peninsula on the sidelines of the first Green Building Solutions and Conference this week, a senior official at the Ministry of Environment Mohammed Saif Al Kuwari said: "This is the first major step towards implementing the QBS and QSAS in Qatar. Our ambition is to bring all the buildings in the country under these standards."

The paper also reported Al Kuwari as saying: "Our ambition in Qatar is that the requirements of green buildings comprise all types of buildings, new and old, as well as including all phases of construction starting from the selection of environmentally appropriate locations, the stages of design, execution, operation and maintenance until it finishes with the stages of re-establishment, demolition and reuse of waste.

"A comprehensive deployment plan has started in 2010 and will end in 2020--and during this time all installation and construction works in Qatar will achieve the requirements of green construction."

The aim of the new specifications is to increase energy saving and use of renewables, reduce water consumption, encourage water recycling and improve indoor air quality.